Fight for Glory
by queen-random1
Summary: Natsu Dragneel, a young, attractive twenty year old man trying to make a living for himself in a small town in Eastern Washington. Education wise? Definitely not the brightest. Fighting with his hands? That's a whole other story. Their small town always notices differences, but in a new Café he meets a certain shy, gorgeous nineteen year old woman brewing his coffee.
1. Prologue

Big green eyes stared at the tv with hopes, fingers clenching the blanket on his lap. The five year old boy was a bundle of nerves, staring at the two men fighting.

An older man sat on the couch in the room, chuckling at his younger son, who held his breath while watching an old film from a handful of years ago.

 _"And look at that! Tetsuya Dragneel lands another hit-another! Wow, the champion still remains on his feet, just how in the world does he do that?!"_

 _The other commentator chuckled, shaking his head. "Who knows! Dragneel might have the right to show off, look at him now!"_

"Daddy's kicking that jerks butt!" The little boy yelled heroically, scrambling onto his feet to throw a few carefree punches in the air.

The man smiled, raising an arm to ruffle his hand through his sons' pink hair. "A little revenge for your uncle, remember? Also for that damn old man, Makarov. He hates that guy."

"Watch your language, honey! Not around the kids," A feminine voice called from the other room.

Tetsuya rolled his head back to reply. "Not like Natsu understand what it means, and Zeref ain't even here!"

"I don't care!"

He sighed. "Don't listen to your mother, she's crazy."

A woman popped from around the corner, her pink hair in a bun with her bangs swept in her face. "I heard that, and I don't think I'm the crazy one."

"Zalea, I'm sure a bad word won't kill the boy."

His wife put her hands on her hips. "Guess someone didn't keep their promise for _tonight_." She winked at him both of them fully knowing what 'plans' they had if he wouldn't swear for a week.

"Babe, wait, hold on- I said.. What'd I say, Natsu? Help a man out here!" His father pleaded, placing his hands on his sons' tiny shoulders.

Young Natsu turned around, a grin slapped on his lips. "You said damn!"

Zalea rose her eyebrow, but puckered her lips victoriously. "Guess I'll be going out with the ladies tonight instead, what a shame."

Tetsuya watched his wife's hips sway until she was out of sight, then slumped into the couch, whipped. He could barely keep up with her little games, and she left him craving her more and more every second.

Damn, she was stubborn.

Natsu stared at the small screen, watching his father sock the turquoise-haired man right in the jaw, following with more punches to knock the man off his feet.

 _"Dragneel won't give an inch against Acnologia, and I ain't surprised why, but the crowd's goin' wild here!"_

 _"Yeah, no kidding there. The last fight Acnologia had was against Igneel, and it was a blowout! Igneel got sent to the hospital with a life-threatening injury, but luckily he's recovered now. I guess Tetsuya wasn't gon' let Acnologia get away with that, especially for being the champion for several years now!"_

Natsu watched Acnologia spit up blood, stumbling backwards and tumbling towards the ground completely unconscious. "That's whatcha get for messin' with dad," he mumbled.

 _"Wow, and the champion, Tetsuya Dragneel holds his title once again! Nothin" like watching two fearless men fight it out."_

 _"I was hoping our fighter from Hawaii would pull through a little more, but seems like the man of Seattle was just too strong."_

 _The two commentators chuckled together. "So, I have a conspiracy, since both men do have at least one son."_

 _The young man eyed the other. "Try me."_

 _"So both these boys are 'round the same age, wouldn't ya like to see a regeneration of these two families fighting again? I know Acnologia and his wife divorced, but his son is a spitting image of him! The lil' mans name is Gapri."_

 _The young commentators eyes widened, his mouth wide open. "Tetsuya Dragneel does have two sons, Zeref and Natsu. I'm sure one of them will take after his old man."_

Natsu remembers the story his father told him about his uncle, Igneel. They grew up fighting together with a friend named Gildarts, and their trainer was... Maka-Microwave? Macaroni?

He remembered screaming, breaking his mom's favorite vase while watching the film of uncle Igneel fight Acnologia, having nightmares seeing him completely knocked out, laying limp and breathless.

Igneel was always taking care of him and his older brother when his parents went to work, almost declaring him as his second father. He practiced boxing with him on the weekends, practiced with his dad at night after school and made sure to put that to good use whenever some bully approached him or his friends during recess at school.

Since that stupid Gray doesn't have any self-defence.

Whatever detention was, it really wasn't all that bad. It was a lot more fun than listening how to add or subtract.

"Dad, I promise that I'll kick that boys butt, and then I'll be the champion for sure!" Natsu's eyes sparked, embedding the name 'Gapri' into his mind. "I want to grow up just like you!"

Tetsuya grinned wide, picking up his son and smothering him into his arms. "First, we got to make you strong!" The gleeful laughter and remarks from the young boy reminded him of himself. Zeref more so took after their mother with the brains and the same face shape, but taking after his hair color.

The only difference with Natsu is he took his pink hair after his mother. Otherwise, the small boy had a fire within, ambitious and reckless with anger.

He was going to be the next-generation boxer for sure in this family.

"But first, I'm going to teach you how to back up your father, he just wants to... spend more time with momma at night."

"I hear you guys fighting all the time though!" Natsu whined, placing his tiny hands on his father knees.

Tetsuya raised an eyebrow. "Fighting? I could never hurt your mother! I love her, where did you get that idea?"

"Well, the last time I heard it, it was..." Natsu paused, tapping his finger on his lip for a second while counting with the other hand. "It was like, two months ago! It sounded like mom was screaming your name, but before I knocked on the bedroom door Zeref told me she was fine and made me go to his room! I heard a lot of banging too! How 'bout you tell me why you were hurting ma?!" He demanded, narrowing his eyes the best he could.

Tetsuya's face was burning a deep crimson. "Oh trust me, you have a _lot_ to learn, young man."

"Just so you know, I'll always protect momma!" Natsu puffed out his chest and threw a couple punches at his dad, which were swallowed by the mans' big palms. "I'll protect my friends too, so you better stop hurting mom cause someday I'll beat you!"

"Dream big, son."

Tetsuya softly smiled as Natsu clicked to watch one of his fights from seven years ago. He's been retired for a few years now, now known as the former-champion. If Natsu really wanted to be like him, it was going to be a ruthless and fearless ride, no matter what cost.

Nonetheless, he believed in his son that he could put his mind to his dream. They didn't have all the money in the world, boxing didn't used to pay as much money, and it still doesn't.

Tetsuya couldn't help but grin, having a feeling that the evolution of boxing was going to change.

* * *

A little young girl ran across the smooth sand, barefoot. "Ma, look at the water! Isn't it pretty?" She pointed towards the ocean, watching the soft waves overlap each other. Amber eyes widened with excitement.

Layla smiled as she followed behind her daughter. "Of course, he nani loa."

She'd taken her daughter back to Oahu, Jude was going nuts again over his company in California. They had two main buildings, one in San Diego and the other in Honolulu, but she'd noticed that her daughter always loved the Hawaiian culture here. They'd had another argument, and she decided to live back here instead. Lucy shouldn't have to deal with her own husband's problems he created, and nonetheless take it out on her.

Oahu was Lucy's home ever since she was a small baby, since her great grandfather was part Hawaiian. For Layla, she was from Seattle, but Hawaii still was another home that her daughter loved.

"That means pretty, doesn't it?"

Layla kissed Lucy on her temple, standing next to her. "Yes."

Lucy awed at her favorite scenery in the whole world. The sun's light reflected off the water in shimmers, glistening beautifully. The palm trees danced with flowers of reds, pinks, and oranges along the warm breeze, her toes sunken into the silky sand.

Her best friend lived here, and she'd met him on this beach, and for that she was grateful.

"Mahalo, momma. I'm happy we came back."

Layla touched her daughters hair, taking a seat. "I'd do anything to make you happy, this has always been our home. Aloha iā 'oe."

Lucy hugged her from the side. "I love you too."

* * *

 _Fight for Glory_  
❀ _by queen_random1_ ❀  
 _Thank you for reading_


	2. Chapter 1: Ordinary Day

A young salmon haired man shook his sweaty hair around, sweat drops flying everywhere.

"That's disgusting, man! I'll punch you next time you do that!" Another male voice shouted. An empty water bottle hit the side of the pinkette's head.

"It's not my fault I work out, unlike you." Natsu said, throwing the plastic bottle back towards his best friend.

Gray caught the bottle in his hand, shooting it into the recycling bin. "I'm beat, I'm going home."

Natsu laughed. "That was only part of the warmup!" He took a swirl from his own water, then wiped the access sweat off of his glistening body with a towel. "Gotta put in more reps."

"I'll see you later." Gray waved, grabbed his bag and left the boxing gym.

"He's probably just gon' go on another date hoping to get somewhere." He laughed to himself.

Natsu sat for a few more minutes for a breather. Grabbing his iPhone from his gym bag, he read all the notifications on his phone screen.

 _-Hey babe, when are you coming back?_

 _-Babe_

 _-Babe?!_

 _-Baby, you've been gone forever! I miss you 3_

 _You don't need to go to the gym everyday, spend more time with your own girlfriend._

Natsu let out a hasty groan, quickly texting her back with a few words.

 _-I'll be done soon, I love you._

He only had to wait for a few mere seconds before his screen lit up again.

 _-Baby, I love you too 3 I can't wait for you to come back!_

Natsu half-smiled, putting his phone back into his bag before he got up to put in another workout.

"Man, I really feel like gettin' fired up to punch somebody." He smirked, cracking his knuckles. He security wrapped the athletic tape around his hands, grabbed his gloves and looked for someone willing to have a few matches against.

After a couple hours, Natsu slammed through his front door completely exhausted. Even though his body was tired, he felt better to know he got a top-notch workout in.

"Babe! I missed you, you've been gone for hours!" A feminine voice yelled from his kitchen.

The scent led him towards the kitchen, seeing his girlfriend baking cookies once again. "Hey, Lis. I'm sorry, but I've been preparing for my fight that's coming up." Natsu said, walking over and kissed her on the cheek.

Lisanna sighed. "I know, but you're always gone, I never get to see you like I used to years ago. It's got me worried." She opened the oven and scooped out the tray of cookies, setting them on the oven.

"Baby," Natsu said, leaning his chin on her shoulder. "I'd never cheat on you, we've been together for almost two years."

"You're always just so focused on _fighting_ instead of me." Lisanna sighed, puckering out her lips in annoyance.

Natsu heavily breathed through his nose. "It's been my passion for ten years, I wanna get better. I don't get why you're so upset."

"Because you don't spend enough time with me." She complained back, rolling her eyes at her dumb boyfriend. How could he clearly not see his priorities straight?!

He groaned, trying to think of a plan to make her calm down. "Fine, I'll just go for a run tomorrow morning, it'll be my recovery day," Natsu said, sliding his hand across her lower back. "I'll spend all day with you if it makes you happy, babe."

Lisanna secretly smiled, giggling as he pecked a few more kisses along the side of her face. "See? It's not that hard to spend time with someone you love."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a deep kiss. Her fingers wove through his soft salmon-colored locks, forcefully pushing her lips harder on his.

After a few more seconds, Natsu tiredly pulled away. "Sorry, I'm just tired."

Lisanna pouted, her bottom lip popping out. "But I wanna kiss you."

"Maybe later, I'm not in the mood," Natsu replied, stealing a hot cookie and biting into it. "I gotta take a shower."

The whitenette rolled her eyes, tapping her fingers against his hair. "Fine." She retracted her arms, letting him retreat upstairs to the shower.

She snaked out her phone from her pocket, seeing a bucketload of notifications already. After scrolling down, a sneaky smile appeared on her lips as she read a certain text.

 _So when ya gon' be done with that broke-ass boxer? You keep me waitin' too long ;)_

Lisanna heard the shower turn on, knowing that Natsu was in. As he thumbs quickly formed a reply, a giggle escaped between her lips.

 _-Maybe tomorrow night, you can come to my place ;) I'm at my bf's house rn, ttyl._

She stuffed her phone back in her pocket and decided to put away the now cooled-off cookies in a tin, humming to herself without any regret.

After about ten minutes, Natsu was done showering. Drying off, then slipped his undergarment and black sweatpants on.

"Fuck, I forgot to roll out." He said, stretching his shoulders back to feel some of the soreness kick in. He usually rolled out every time, but Lisanna was practically _begging_ him to come to his house so he accidentally skipped a crucial part to finishing a hefty workout.

He flopped on his bed, the pleasurable feeling of letting his muscles relax was more than great.

The door propped open with Lisanna coming in mindlessly, giggling as she saw him shirtless on the bed. "Hey _Natsu_.." She practically purred, strolling to his bed to crawl up next to him, biting her lip.

Natsu smirked, sitting upright. "Hm?"

"You know you look so...distracting right now." Lisanna said. She reached her hand out to grab his hair, bringing him forcefully into a sloppy kiss.

Natsu automatically started moving his lips against hers, lowering himself back down with her on top. His calloused hands held her hips firmly, feeling her body roughly move on his.

After a few minutes of making out, Lisanna started to run her hands over his extremely well-toned chest, letting herself kiss the side of his neck.

"Babe, I'm tired, I just wanna rest." Natsu said. He took his hands off of her, looking up at the disappointed expression on her face.

"We've never had sex because you always say you're tired." Lisanna spat, rolling her eyes as she slipped off from sitting on him, laying on the other side of the bed. "You're like, _never_ in the mood for anything."

"I just want to wait till it's right," Natsu started, running a hand through his dampened hair. "And I'm exhausted from earlier."

"Whatever." She replied, completely annoyed and turning her body away from him. She didn't notice her phone had slipped from her pocket onto the space between them.

Natsu sighed, already knowing she was pissed off at him _again_. Why was it she got mad over the simplest things? She clearly knew his schedule and still, to this day, argued with him about it.

The screen lit up from her phone, catching his attention. He grabbed it, reading the message.

 _-I'll see you then 3_

His eyebrows heavily furrowed, an instant wave of suspicion jolting through him. "Lis, who's this?" Natsu demanded, holding the phone screen at her. His voice was not gentle in any way towards her.

Lisanna mentally screamed, quickly coming up with a partial lie. "Oh-It's just my friend! There's going to be a new café opening soon, and we wanted to try it out." She plastered a fake smile, knowing he'd cluelessly believe it. There was a new café opening soon, but that definitely wasn't her plan to visit that place.

"Really? Sounds interesting, I'll have to try it out." Natsu said, tossing her phone back to her. He turned on his side, mentally giving him a note in the back of his thoughts to remember that.

 _'I wish I didn't have to stay home all day tomorrow after my run.'_ Natsu groaned in his thoughts, pulling the blanket up halfway to his chest. Before they started dating, he warned her he'd be gone most of the time. She's known for five years ever since they met, and she still hates him for it.

Lisanna secretly smiled as she texted her "friend" back, then setting her device on her charger. ' _He's so oblivious.'_


	3. Chapter 2: Moving In

Natsu groaned as he heard his alarm blasting ear-piercing music from his phone. Onyx eyes barely squinted open to see the brightness of his phone practically blinding him. His hand rummaged to his nightstand, quickly shutting it off.

"Natsu...you better be back soon." Lisanna mumbled, her voice muffled partially from a pillow.

He leaned over and gently kissed her head. "I'm just goin' for a long run, don't worry." With that, he got up and stretched his muscles. He threw on a white shirt, white Nike socks and switched to black Nike shorts, then walked to the kitchen.

Early mornings was the first start every day, rising up no later than six a.m. Today, he was up at five so Lisanna wouldn't be as pissed since he'd get back earlier.

He rummaged through his fridge, distastefully glancing through to see nothing with enough protein. "Fuck, guess I'll settle for this again." Natsu muttered under his breath, grabbing out the eggs.

After grabbing a tall glass, he mindlessly started to break the eggs and pour them in. He stood by the kitchen sink and held the glass that had six raw eggs in it, raising it to his mouth.

His nose wrinkled at the slimy texture, quickly inhaling the gooey eggs down the hatch. Most mornings he'd be too lazy to cook anything, so it was the fastest way to get his "hearty breakfast", even if the taste disrupted his tastebuds.

After lacing up in his running shoes, he walked outside, swinging his arms a few times to loosen up. Following with a few stretches, he started a slow paced jog.

The cool, dark morning was mostly empty on the small streets, the musky buildings lightless. He took steady breaths, inhaling and exhaling the chilly air, chilling against his skin.

He loved morning runs; there wasn't too many people up at this hour, relentlessly peaceful with the occasional bird chirps and the steady sound of his feet against the ground.

After about five miles, he slowed down to stand in front of the boxing gym on the corner of the street, just near train tracks. He stared up at the rusty sign, the letters barely visible to read.

 _"Gildarts' boxing gym"_

"Man, this ol' guys' gotta fix the outside." Natsu said, patting the outside of the gym. "I'll be back here tomorrow, sorry Boxie."

Yes, he named the gym "Boxie" on his own, since he always worked out almost everyday there. He's been working out for ten years here. So what's the harm of giving his favorite place a name?

Too bad Lisanna hated Boxie, to his distaste.

Natsu began running again, enjoying the silence of the peaceful morning. No annoying druggies on the side wanting to sell crack to him, no drunken guys his age asking for a fight because they knew he was a good fighter.

Everyone who went to Boxie knew his name.

Everyone knew he wanted to become the best, and he dominated every match he had every Friday night. Why Friday night? Because it's more money, and he's good enough to make a name for himself.

 _"And now, across from the challenger side, we have the one and only, the Master of Disaster, the Red Dragon...Natsu Dragneel!"_

Every Friday night at the local boxing arena was _packed_ with people. Girls flaunter over him, people always holler his name.

He wished that he was more known to the public. So far, his town was the only thing he had that was the advantage to having the home-court advantage.

His eye caught something out of the ordinary, making him come to a halt. It wasn't _exactly_ weird, but it was a new small building, obviously from its cleanliness comparing to the other dirtied, musky small buildings.

The word "café" drew his attention, realizing that this was the place his girl had mentioned to him about visiting with her friend.

Natsu curiously walked up to it, seeing a sign plastered on the glass frame in the door.

"Offering jobs starting Sunday through Tuesday, will open Friday," Natsu read quietly, realizing today was Saturday. "I guess I'll be visiting here in six days."

He took a mental note of the dates, hoping he'd remember somehow, then started his run back home to finish the remaining five miles.

* * *

"It's too early for this..." A young, beautiful blonde young woman sighed, dropping yet another cardboard box into her new apartment.

She threw her long golden hair up in a high messy bun, since her hair kept getting in her way. It did reach her waist, but more of the time it was a hassle to deal with.

But then and again, she'd prefer her long hair over her short hair.

"Miss Heartfilia, is there anything else I can do?" A male said, carefully placing down the last box of her possessions on the ground.

Lucy shook her head. "A'ohe ho'omaika'i iā'oe, I think I'll be good."

The U-Haul man cocked his head, obviously not familiar with that term. "Oh, I'm sorry! I meant to say 'no thank you'."

"Alright, take care." The man nodded his head, politely taking his leave and shutting the door behind him.

She immediately flopped on the two person couch, groaning heavily. "I'm so tired...and I need to find a job soon."

She's on the fifth floor of the apartment floors, and hers only consists of a tiny living room with one long couch, a table, and a small flat tv, with the tiny kitchen connected to it with a small square dining table for four. A small hallway leads to one bathroom, then a tiny bedroom with a twin-sized bed, musky wooden desk and chair, dresser and a closet for clothes.

"Home sweet home ku'u hoki." Lucy mumbled, shaking her head. This was the only place she could afford now, and she had to get money somehow _pronto_.

She'd already embarrassed herself by speaking other than English.

 _'Might as well start now, I'll deal with my crap later.'_ Lucy thought to herself, reluctantly getting up from the couch. Stuffing her crappy phone in her gray sweatpants pocket along with her keys and wallet, she headed out to explore the new town she settled in.

The sun was just rising in the clear-blue sky, and apparently people here weren't too big on getting up early. It was nearly eight in the morning and only a few people were outside.

She passed by a barber shop, already knowing that was a strike for options. Gas station, not her style, that would probably be her last resort.

Lucy turned a corner, looking up at whatever public-resident place it was. It seemed like a gym, but she couldn't imagine herself being a water girl for a bunch of guys.

"Excuse me, you seem lost, and I've never seen you here. Any way I can help?" A male voice asked.

Lucy snapped her head to her left to see a young man, pale creamy white skin with dark ruffled hair, matching his piercing eyes. De blinked a few times, noticing how attractive he was.

"Well, I am new here," Lucy shyly started, mentally wishing that she didn't look like a total slob at the moment. "I was just looking around, that's all."

The young man chuckled, a side-smile sweeping across his thin lips. "Ah, it's pretty small here."

"I noticed." Lucy replied softly, awkwardly hugging her arms. She hadn't expected to run into someone this good looking, nonetheless make her start more thrilling.

"Hey, my name's Gray Fullbuster, it's nice to meet you." He held out his hand, a polite gesture to greet her.

She took his hand, gently shaking it. "'O wau'o Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you too." Her face flustered light pink.

He paused for a moment, not recognizing the first word she'd said, but didn't bring it up.

"I just saw you and I thought you were actually really cute, and I was wondering if I could get your number or Snapchat? It'd be nice to know you more." Gray said, a lift pink dusting his cheeks.

A rosy color flourished darker on the apples of her own cheeks. "Um, sure. I don't mind." Lucy smiled at him.

They exchanged both their numbers and snapchats. "I'll text you sometime." Gray said, giving her one last smile before he walked into the boxing gym.

Lucy's heart was throbbing with excitement, a light bounce added to each step with a finishing gleeful smile. _'Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought.'_

Now more eagerly, she approached a café that seemed brand new. After reading the sign, she nodded her head, "I could do this."

* * *

Natsu currently sat on the couch, honestly somewhat bored as he stared at the show Lisanna had put on. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, almost having the temptation to get up and leave from disinterest. He could be punching Gray right in the face at the gym, one of the most satisfying things to do on a daily basis.

"I love you, Natsu." Lisanna cooed, snuggling up closer to his side and kissed him on the cheek.

"Love you too." Natsu grumbled back, sliding his phone out of his pocket. Both he and Lisanna looked at the text message from Gray, already rolling their eyes.

 _-I'm not shitting you this time, I got this super cute chicks' number and Snapchat. I swear this time I'm being for real._

"He's back at it again." Lisanna laughed, watching his thumbs quickly text back a reply to her boyfriends' best friend.

 _-Shut up, I bet it's just another girl you'll scare off because you strip too soon at the stripping club._

"I hardly believe this'll work out for him." Natsu smirked, laughing about the last girl he had for one week. He'd brought her somehow to a club, and she'd gotten hung up on another man. Even under aged, the bastard still managed to slip into clubs all the time. Every time Gray invited Natsu, he'd flat out reject him.

Natsu read the quick text Gray had replied with, making him laugh even harder.

 _-No way. She's brand new to the town, I can't mess this up._

"He doesn't know when to fucking quit." Natsu said, kissing Lisanna's hair. She giggled in reply, leaning her head on his broad shoulder.

That idiot will never land a girlfriend.


	4. Chapter 3: Preparing

The next few days, Lucy managed to land a job as a barista and server at the brand new Café. She wasn't surprised since she'd worked at Starbucks before, and that was _hefty_ work, constantly being bugged by annoying customers that demanded it to be perfect. She understood wanting the drink to be at high standards, but it was the occasional bastard screaming that he didn't get enough chocolate sauce on the whipped cream of his frappe.

She was currently happily humming as she wiped the tables, a gleeful smile placed on her lips.

"Juvia thinks this is too much work already!" A bluenette cried, her shoulders slumped. A broom was held loosely in her palms, slowly sweeping the floor.

Lucy laughed from her comment. "It's only the beginning, tomorrow's the first day we open up!" She excitedly said, quickly maneuvering to the next table to clean. "Ua maika'i."

Juvia raised an eyebrow. "Juvia doesn't know what... that means."

Lucy winced. "Sorry, it means 'it's okay'."

"I told my boyfriend if he doesn't come, I'm breaking up with him." Another bluenette shouted. She was the same age as them, but only significantly shorter.

"Wow, that's no pressure at all." Lucy said over her shoulder, smiling at her new friend, Levy. The first day they'd both shown up and instantly made connections somehow.

Levy tapped her foot against the ground and crossed her arms. "That metal-head better not forget to come after his workout."

"What sport does he do?" Lucy asked, curious to know more about her newest friend. For a quick second, the face of the young male she met popped in her head, causing her cheeks to tint pink.

Levy threw away a dirty napkin. "He's a boxer. He usually has a match every Wednesday evening or Friday afternoon," She said, cleaning the counter. "But he's always ticked because Friday nights usually pay the most, so he's been trying to work his butt off so he can maybe have a fight scheduled that time."

"Wow, hope he can do it," Lucy said, giving her an assuring smile. "I actually never watched boxing in person, but he'll manage if he's that motivated."

Levy sighed, shaking her head. "He's big and strong, but he's just _slow_ , so he's been working on his agility mostly." She lightly laughed at the memories of watching his replays that she'd recorded, remembering him getting grumpy as they watched a certain pinkette beat the crap out of him.

"Maybe I'll come to an event with you, it'd be so much fun." Lucy suggested, her large brown eyes twinkling with excitement.

Levy raised her arms in the air. "Yeah! Then we can eat crap loads of popcorn and you can see Gajeel get punched in the face!"

The two of them started cracking up, continuing to clean everything until it was completely spotless.

After getting released from their last day of preparing, Lucy said her goodbyes to Juvia and Levy, promising that they'd hang out soon.

Lucy managed to get home quickly, avoiding getting trapped by a group of drunken males that catcalled her out. It's not like she was wearing anything fantastic, her face was bare without makeup and she wore another pair of sweats with a t-shirt.

She smiled as she flopped on her bed, grabbing her old laptop and snapping it open. "Well, at least I have a job at the moment." Lucy mumbled, letting her fingers glide across the keyboard to search more places around the area.

Even from the café opening tomorrow, her pay was still only a mere eight dollars an hour, subsequently too low for her to afford her cheap apartment for a month.

At this point, she was willing to do anything to stay off the streets.

Brown orbs continuously scanned the computer screen, sighing to see nothing available. If she could live in Seattle, all her dreams would come true.

"I really need to find another job..." Lucy groaned, blankly staring as she scrolled through every possibility.

Her father was filthy rich, and he didn't share any of it. Not even with his own _daughter_ , which he hasn't contacted her in years.

It's not her fault she didn't want to be constricted by his rules that would've controlled her future.

 _"Now, let's try again, Lucy. You can do this." A young woman said, spinning on her tip-toes in a perfect circle._

 _Lucy only watched the dancer gracefully move like a gazelle, fluid movements she couldn't comprehend. "I can't dance like this...it's too formal." She sighed, her eyes dropping towards the ground._

 _"You're destined to be a ballerina, that's what your father wants. It's because it's the only thing that still keeps your status high, it's a classic thing to perfect in." The instructor softly said, giving Lucy a reassuring smile._

 _Lucy shook her head. "I'm not destined for formality, I don't care about my status. I want to be successful in my own ways, not my future being controlled. I can't dance like this."_

Lucy sighed, propping herself up on her elbow. She was nowhere near perfect, what her father expected to be. Her style of dancing was drastically different, and that's what pushed it too far.

The screen of her small phone lit up next to her, grabbing her full attention. A smile crossed her face to read a text message from Gray, quickly opening it to reply.

* * *

Gray giddily smiled as he tapped his foot, almost wanting to smirk in his best friends face. "Look, we've been texting for days now, she's totally into me." He bragged, his voice having a cockiness to it.

Natsu eyeballed the screen, raising his brow in surprise. "Wow, I'm actually surprised to see you haven't scared her off by sending nudes."

"Hey! This girl's different, I can feel it!" Gray yelled, ignoring the laughs that echoed from the salmon-haired male. "I actually took her out for a walk yesterday!"

"A walk? What is this, kindergarten?" Natsu spat, shaking his head.

"You were the one who didn't know gay from straight, you idiot." Gray hissed back, immediately causing the cocky laughs from Natsu to subside.

"Shut up." Natsu flipped him off.

Gray's phone lit up, which he almost jumped out of his seat from one mere reply. Natsu gave him a strange look from the side, but curiously glanced at the name of the mysterious girl he'd met last week.

"So her name's Lucy? Not too bad, has a nice ring to it." Natsu admitted, nodding his head in slight approval. It didn't sound harsh or overpowering, it was almost soft and delicate, a hint of innocence behind the arranged letters.

"She's never seen a fighting match before, maybe I'll bring her so she can see your ass get handed to you this Friday." Gray smirked, pressing the send button on his large iPhone screen.

Natsu scoffed. "She'd probably leave your ass for mine instead, but then she'd get caught coming back to you because I have a girlfriend."

"She's not like that, besides, I might take her out tomorrow to the café that's opening." Gray said, a goofy smile plastered on his face at the thought of an actual first date.

"Then I'll barge in and she'll leave you in the middle, and you'll be left baeless." Natsu cockily joked, receiving an unexpected punch in the face.

"Shut up!" Gray yelled, throwing another fist towards his pinkette friend. Before his fist met his face again, he was already falling back onto the couch from receiving a nasty blow to the stomach. A groan escaped his body, trying to subside the bruising pain in his stomach.

* * *

Natsu flopped on his empty bed, undeniably thanking for his own time without anyone to bother him.

Lisanna texted him earlier saying she was staying at her place for the night, which he didn't mind; he occasionally got bothered by her clinginess towards him, and it drove him mad.

They started out in a blissful trance, totally head-over-heels for each other, but it only escalated after a few months. She started to demand more of him, trying to pry more of his time he spent training instead.

To be honest, he was doubting himself in their relationship. What if they weren't compatible any longer?

After checking all of his notifications on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, he set his alarm for the morning. He skipped most of the comments females had left under his recent Instagram post, not even taking a glance at what was hiding in his DM's.

Natsu settled into a comfortable position, his mind only focused on his goals. He had to not only physically prepare for this Friday, but also mentally. He studied a little bit about his opponent, seeing he hade slightly more potential than other competitors in the past.

But first, he'd check out that new café sometime tomorrow as an additional plan for his long day.


	5. Chapter 4: Opening

Natsu slammed his blaring phone, immediately stopping the alarm from screaming through his eardrums.

He slowly rose up from the bed and went through his normal morning routine.

Except he replaced raw eggs for some water and a protein bar.

He unlocked his phone to check the notifications he'd gotten overnight.

 _-Hey babe, I can't make it over to your house today. I'll see you tomorrow._

Natsu furrowed his brows, almost having the urge to chuck his phone at the wall. The one day she promised she'd be there was when she bailed on him.

Today was his _fight_ , and she was "too busy" to make it all of a sudden. She always skipped on his fights, it's like she didn't give a damn about his future at all.

"She's the one fucking complaining about me not seeing her enough because I train too much, she's being a hypocrite! Why's she busy now?!" Natsu yelled out loud. He tried to chuck a napkin in the trash bin, but it only fluttered a couple feet in front of him and landed by his feet.

He decided to leave her on read, not bothering to reply. She should already know the problem here.

* * *

"The place just opened half an hour ago and I'm already tired. I'm going home after my shift." Levy complained, quickly throwing together some ice caffeinated drink for a customer.

At the moment, Lucy was working for the dining section, mainly as a waitress. So far everything was running smoothly, happy customers leaving more than satisfied.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Lucy replied, grabbing another order to serve.

Juvia sweatdropped as she was running the cashier, hilariously complaining about her fingers being too tired.

The café doors burst wide open to reveal an extremely tall, broad muscular man with jet-black hair that swept behind his back. Levy immediately ran up and practically pounced on him, squeezing him in an bear hug.

"You made it!" Levy gladly said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek with a giddily smile.

Lucy came back from serving an order to another customer, smiling to now see what her friends' boyfriend looked like in person. She'd seen a few pictures that Levy showed her from Instagram, but it was the real deal now.

"Shrimp, I wasn't bout to take my chances of risking not coming." He said, his voice a deep husked tone.

"This is my new friend Lucy," Levy pointed, motioning her to walk over. "You know she's a huge bookworm for the Divergent series too?!"

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd find yourself another bookworm to read with." He said, setting her back down on her feet.

"Lucy, this is Gajeel, obviously," Levy smiled, patting her hand on his chest a few times. "Otherwise, how was your workout?"

Gajeel roughly groaned. "That Salamander went for a run this morning before coming to our practice and still managed to beat me in two out of three rounds. I let him off the hook because he's got the main fight tonight at the arena."

Lucy perked up from the interesting nickname. "Salamander? That's quite original. What does he have, red or pink eyes?" She giggled, brushing her bangs away from her face.

She looked to see Gajeel blankly shake his head, subsiding her laughter. "You'll see one day if you watch a boxing match, or he might come in here ordering a venti straight black coffee to-go."

Lucy lightly laughed again. "Well, he sounds interesting. Maybe you'll beat him after you work on your agility." With that, she started to continue working, hearing him hastily talk to Levy.

"You told her that?! I don't want more people knowing I can't beat him!"

"Sorry babe!"

Lucy shook her head and smiled. Those two were the cutest together, maybe she'd have to go with Levy to a few boxing matches.

* * *

"Natsu, my boy, you're gonna beat this lil' kids ass tonight." An older man chuckled, slapping Natsu right in the center of his back.

"And you're gon' be sleepin' at home afterwards without a girl again." Natsu joked back, taking a sip of water before laughing at the mans' face expression.

"Shut your trap, I'll take away half of your reward money tonight."

"Still wouldn't get you far, Gildarts."

The gruff, older man shook his head, ruffling his salmon-colored hair. "Go rest up, kid. Make sure you're not late at the arena again tonight."

Natsu grabbed his Nike workout bag and slung it on his back, having his phone in his hand. "No promises, you old fart!"

"I'm not an old fart!" Gildarts voice yelled from behind. He only snickered to himself as he walked out the boxing gym, the sun greeting him by its blinding rays.

Natsu began to walk home, throwing a few punches in the air as he imagines himself socking the guy right in the nose. "I'm fired up for this!" He yelled, his voice carrying throughout the air for a few more seconds.

He continued to walk home until he spotted the café, immediately grabbing his attention. "You know what, I'll go check it out. I'll just grab something quick." He smirked as he lazily jaywalked across the street, not giving a damn about finding the nearest cross walk.

The place was already packed, cars filling up every parking space available in the tiny lot. It was the most lively café he's seen in his town, so curiosity only grew when he approached it.

He slowly opened one of the wooden double doors, slipping in to the lively place. His eyes glanced around to inspect the features.

"Can Juvia help you, sir? Would you like something to-go or a table?" A voice called, grabbing his attention to the cashier.

Natsu made a weird look from the bluenette referring to herself in third-person, but shook the thought away. "Yeah, I'll take a seat for one." He replied, shrugging his shoulders. If anything, it would be a good experience to see if maybe one day he'd take Lisanna out to eat here.

"What the hell, Salamander?"

Oh, he recognized that voice from earlier.

Natsu smirked as he saw Gajeel standing there with Levy. "I'm just coming here to celebrate my win." He said cockily, flashing a toothy grin.

Gajeel flipped him off. "I hope this guy beats your ass tonight."

Levy sighed, pulling down his hand. "I'll be back babe. Natsu, I'll lead you to a table." After a quick kiss, she motioned him to follow her.

It was a small booth diagonally across from the registration and barista area, clearly able to see many workers blending and mixing different coffees for customers. Natsu slid in a seat and grabbed the menu that Levy handed her.

"I didn't know you applied for a job here." Natsu surprisingly said, opening the menu to gaze through the different options.

Levy smiled. "Yeah! I needed a new one anyways. I gotta get back to my area, but I'll call your waitress over," she replied, then turned her head the opposite direction. "Lu! You have another customer to handle!"

Natsu winced from her loud voice. "Jesus! You'll scare off more customers if you yell like that!"

"Oh sue me." Levy stuck out her middle finger towards him, walking back to her shift to continue making drinks.

"Jesus, why's everybody flipping me off?" Natsu muttered under his breath.

Natsu shook his head and rolled his eyes at the shorter nineteen year old. The only thing he prayed was that this person serving him wouldn't be annoying with a squeaky high-pitched voice like in other cafés he's gone to.

As he glanced down and propped his elbow on the table while scrolling on his phone, he didn't notice a figure approach him.

"Aloha, I'll be your waitress for today; could I start you with a drink?" An angelic, soft voice said.

Natsu glanced up to see a young woman, probably his age, with golden blonde hair thrown up in a large messy bun on top of her head, her bangs framing her thin sculpted face. "Yeah, I'll start with a regular drip coffee." He said, looking into her cocoa brown eyes.

Her pink lips formed a gentle smile as she nodded. "I'll be right back."

Natsu looked down at his phone for a second, but his eyes glanced back up to watch the waitress walk to the barista area. The blonde approached Levy, assuming she'd already started making a pot of regular coffee for him.

 _"Lu! You got another customer to handle!"_

For some reason, the short name struck out to him, wondering his thoughts with curiosity again. The tips of his fingers tapped against the table.

The blonde waitress happily came back, him noticing her lively and positive vibes. She started to pour regular coffee in a mug, setting it down with a few creams and packets of sugars.

"What's you name?" Natsu asked boldly.

The waitress perked up, shyly smiling. "Sorry about that, I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Lucy."

Natsu's eyes shot wide open.

No way. Was this _possible_ that he managed to run into the girl Gray met?

"E kala mai ia'u, I should've said my name earlier." Lucy squeaked out, an embarrassed blush tinting her cheeks. She looked to meet his surprised gaze, somewhat confusing her.

Lucy quickly sucked in a breath and spun on her heel, not feeling the gaze that traced her steps back to the chef area.

Natsu blinked several times, making sure he heard her words correctly. Gray, having a chance with _her_?

And that accent... It was pretty. It wasn't straight-up noticeable, but it grabbed his attention faster than his heartbeat.

He studied her until she was out of sight, noticing that she was no doubt attractive. The thought of Gray meeting up with a beautiful blonde was almost unreal, he'd somehow managed to finally step up his game. Her black jeans hugged her curvaceous figure along with her white long-sleeves v-neck shirt-

He stared as he realized he was checking her _out_ unconsciously because of her name.

"What the hell?! No, Gray would _not_ land a chance with someone like that, it's gotta be a different Lucy." Natsu huffed to himself, rubbing his face with his hands. God, if Lisanna was here, Hell would've broken loose for sure.

As if right on que, the damn stripper casually walked in without seeing Natsu, approaching the front desk.

"Stripper! What the hell are you doin'?" Natsu spat. His best friend pivoted on his heels to face him.

"Didn't you have a light workout this morning to be prepared for your fight tonight?" Gray asked as he carelessly walked to Natsu's booth, slipping into the seat across from him.

"No shit! But I gotta ask you something, I'm being fucking serious here." Natsu's voice was more serious, causing Gray's eyebrows to raise.

The dark haired male weirdly blinked at his seriousness. "Yeah, go ahead..." he said, taking a sip of the untouched glass of water that was originally for Natsu.

"Does this Lucy person work here?"

Gray's eyes narrowed. "Why the hell would you ask that?-" He stopped in the middle of his sentence when the waitress came back to order.

Both males looked up at Lucy. "Lucy! I didn't know you got a job here!" Gray exclaimed, a pink tint dusting along his cheeks.

"I didn't expect you to visit, Gray. It's nice to see you again," Lucy smiled back. "Are you getting anything today?"

"I'll just have the same as this dumbass." Gray snickered, pointing towards the pinkette.

Natsu sent a glare towards him as she lightly giggled, setting down a mug and pouring another cup of drip coffee.

"A hui hou." Lucy said, gently smiling before taking her leave from the two males.

Gray winked back, a cocky smirk formed by his lips. They both watched her saunter away, until the stripper caught the boxer staring at her.

"Hey! You already got a girlfriend, she's _mine_." Gray spat, grabbing an ice cube from the glass of water and chucking it straight at Natsu's forehead.

Natsu stared flabbergasted, ignoring the small cube bounce off his face and land on the table. "How the fuck did you manage to land a girl that hot?" He questioned, taking another glance at Lucy, who was throwing together another pot of coffee. "She's speaking _Hawaiian_. I don't know what the fuck she said, but _damn_."

"Hey, Lisanna would be fucking pissed if she heard that," Gray chuckled, ripping open a packet of sugar to stir in his drip coffee. "But yeah, I told you she was hot. Check her Instagram when Lis ain't around."

Natsu flipped him off and stirred a pack of sugar and cream in his own coffee. "No way, I was just giving you a compliment." He bitterly said, his voice more angry than subtle.

Gray blinked a couple times, sensing that something was wrong. "Bro, something's wrong again. You're always like this before your fights; did Lis get mad at you _again_?"

The boxer sighed, staring at his hot drink. "She fucking bailed on me again, said she was too busy to come over or watch my fight tonight."

Gray shook his head. "I'm tellin' you, I don't know if she's loyal, but I won't make your decisions." He said, taking a sip of his creamy coffee.

"I trust her, it's just that she never likes it when I ever leave. She thinks I'm always wasting time boxing." Natsu replied. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a sip, immediately impressed by how flavorful the simple coffee tasted. It was just the right amount; not too subtle where it didn't tingle his tastebuds but not too strong that made his nose wrinkle in dissatisfaction.

They both looked at each other after taking a sip. "Who made this? It's the best drip coffee I've ever had I swear." Gray said, his eyebrows raised as he took another full.

Natsu smirked, swirling the liquid around in his mug. "Pretty sure I saw Lucy make it."

"It's hella good."

While Gray took out his phone, Natsu took a long moment to glance back at Lucy working, somewhat curious to know her, specifically why she was wasting her time with the numskull sitting across from him.

"Let me have her Instagram." Natsu said, grabbing his large red iPhone out of his pocket. He didn't take a second to feel annoyed by Lisanna's absence of him ignoring her.

"I swear to god you better not do anything when you see it, you'll probably wanna hide this shit away from your _loyal_ girlfriend." Gray said, clearly emphasizing the word 'loyal'.

Natsu rolled his eyes and opened up his instagram app.

He clearly wasn't expecting anything at all, but didn't realize he'd be proven dead wrong.


	6. Chapter 5: Taking a Glimpse

"I love it when you skip those stupid matches for me." A voice husked, propping his head up by leaning his cheek on his palm. The tips of his blue spiky hair touched her cheek as he peeked over her shoulder.

Lisanna giggled as she mindlessly scrolled on her phone through social media, his hot breath tickling her ear. "You know I don't like sports, especially boxing. It's a waste of time."

"So why am I still your side man? Can't you just break up with him?" He questioned, letting his arm drape across her stomach.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Even if I don't like the sport, he does make a lot for winning," Lisanna said, wrinkling her nose at some girls instagram post. "But he's always away doing that stupid shit."

Bickslow chuckled, placing a lingering kiss on her cheek. "He'll only be famous in this small town. Trust me, he'll be nothin' in a few years so just ditch him now."

Lisanna didn't respond right away as a recent picture Natsu uploaded on Instagram popped up in her feed, capturing her gaze. A snarky laugh escaped between her lips. "You're right, but you'll have to wait until that happens."

"I could beat his ass even if he is a boxer," Bickslow husked, nuzzling his nose to the side of her jawline and placing tickling light kisses on her skin. "And I'm better in bed than him."

"Currently you are, he's a wimp because he hasn't done it with anyone yet." Lisanna smirked. Tossing her phone to the side, she rolled her body towards him and ran her fingers in his sea blue locks.

Bickslow smirked as she pulled him into a deep kiss, immediately pressing his lips forcefully against hers. "He'll never know bout us." He husked, letting his hand slide down from her waist and run along her exposed thigh.

A giddy smile crossed upon her greedy lips, no remorse or wavering of regret passing by from continuing her decision to let him guide them further.

* * *

"Bye Gray, bye Natsu!" Levy shouted as she saw them heading towards the door to leave.

Gray waved at Levy, then glanced to at Lucy standing next to her. "I'll see you later, Lucy."

A warmth spread across her rosy cheeks, finishing with a soft smile. "Aloha, Gray." She replied, capturing his gaze for a quick moment.

Levy stared at her in confusion, then glanced back at the two men who started to take their leave. "Hey Natsu! Where's Lisanna? Isn't she supposed to be with you because she's clingy?" She shouted, grabbing the pinkette's attention.

Natsu ran a hand through his hair and shrugged his shoulders. "She fucking left, and she didn't have the decency to tell me where _again_." He irritatingly said, his voice clearly showing signs of frustration.

Levy rolled her eyes, already expecting some sort of answer like that. "She won't even text me back today, I was just wondering if she wanted to hang out but apparently she's too busy to check her phone. I wanted her to meet my new friend, Lu."

Lucy dryly gulped as the pinkette's eyes locked on her, seeing his eyes glance down her body for a split second.

She could almost die from seeing another attractive male, but he seemed completely different than Gray. His salmon-tinted hair tended to spike up in random directions, and it was undeniable that through his thin shirt clearly laid a toned chest, obvious from the definition seeking through.

The so-called man Natsu suddenly replaced his intimidating frown to a soft smile, causing her to blink twice to make sure her eyes were seeing straight. "Yeah, I'll try to call her for you. Tell that iron-head to work on his footwork." He said.

"Oh fuck you." Levy spat, giving him the middle finger again.

"You wish." Natsu laughed back. Gray snickered and started backing out of the door, pushing it open with his back.

Levy made a face at the two of them, slamming a clean mug on the counter. "Bastards." She muttered under her breath.

Before Natsu turned around, he took one last curious glance at Lucy, his eyes clashing into the dark chocolate brown color her orbs shone.

Why did she seem so interesting to him?

He turned around and walked out with Gray, stuffing one hand in his pocket with his other grasping his phone. A blank expression was on his face as he stared in thought.

They hadn't spoken to each other in a full conversation, but the simplicity of her answer to his question was more than enough. Something pulled on his strings that he wanted to know her better. The wondrous thought pinged in his head of why she'd move here in the first place. This grubby town wouldn't lead anyone to a successful future.

So why would a beautiful girl move here?

"You know I think it's fucked up that Lisanna won't say where she is whenever she's gone," Gray started, shuffling his feet against the dirty sidewalk. "It rubs me the wrong way, your girl should always let you know where she is at least."

Natsu let his gaze fall to the ground. "You know even if it's hard to admit, you're right."

Gray glanced at him, a serious glint in his eyes. "Then why don't you tell her?"

"Because she'll get mad again, we'll fight, she'll leave and I'll be the one to apologize in the end. It's not worth getting into another stupid argument." Natsu said, shaking his head. The last time they'd verbally fought was a week and a half ago because she hadn't shown up to the date they set up together in advance.

A silence passed them, deciding to drop the topic of Lisanna for another time.

"So, since Lis won't be home, I guess I'll have some downtime to check out Lucy's Insta." Natsu smirked, quickly churning the mood to a different direction.

"I think you should get your ass ready for a fight tonight cause I'll be there," Gray said, narrowing his eyes at the wide grin plastered on Natsu's face. "But it's just Lucy Heartfilia with an underscore between her first and last name. I'll just brag to you that way without having to mention her."

Natsu punched his best friend in the arm just hard enough to leave a bruise to form overtime.

After a while, Gray left to go his separate way to his own house. Natsu took the opportunity to enjoy the sun beaming down, clearing his mind with imagining himself later tonight.

This guy has no idea what he's facing against, and Natsu planned on leaving him KO'd in just a few mere rounds. The whole week he studied by watching video of his opponent, easily grasping his style and movements.

Natsu was so confident that he'd already arranged next weeks fight at the same time.

He finally reached home, embracing the fact that he could relax without being constantly jabbed at every second. The clock read around an early lunchtime, so he decided to rummage through his fridge to find something to eat.

"Gotta get them good eats." Natsu said to himself, reaching for some leftover grilled chicken and a bag of salad to put together and a large Gatorade as a drink.

He easily made himself another chicken salad and walked over to flop on the couch, flipping open his apple laptop to study more video of his opponent.

As he clicked on the video and waited for it to load, he mindlessly went on his phone again to check through his medias. It wasn't a shock to see that Lisanna hadn't texted anything to him yet, whatever she was doing was obviously more important that _him._

Natsu paused as he was on Instagram, her name popping into his mind.

"Why am I doing this?.." He mumbled, already letting his thumbs type her name in the search bar.

Only one profile appeared on the screen, probably because her last name was highly uncommon. His thumb hovered above for a few seconds, as if he was deciding to go through with it or not.

 _'Fuck it.'_ Natsu thought as he clicked on the profile.

"This bastard made me search up an account that's private?! What a fucking asshole stripper!" He yelled randomly at himself. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, feeling stupid for letting Gray tease him into a brick wall.

His eyes couldn't help but squint at the tiny profile picture, easily masking out the figure that matched the gal in the café.

Her blonde hair was up into a high side ponytail, cascading to the bottom of where the picture cut off at her elbow bend that left him wondering how long it truly was. The blue water behind her glistened from the sunlight, rays radiating off her creamy toned skin. Her brown-ember orbs vibes with some sort of happiness.

Natsu quickly closed out the app and set his phone facedown on the couch, shaking his head. He pressed the play button on the video and took a bite from his crafty salad.

As he blankly stared, an unconscious thought already knew where he was visiting for a to-go cup of coffee the next morning.

* * *

"So Lu, I didn't know you knew Gray." Levy said as she held the door open for them to walk out. Their shifts just ended, and they took the opportunity to enjoy the rest of the day.

Lucy ran her fingers through the hair that framed the side of her face. "Well, it was only a coincidence that it happened. I was walking around to find a job and I met him outside some boxing gym."

"Juvia thought he was so _dreamy~_ " Juvia cooed. The moment her eyes fell on the young man, words were indescribable of how gorgeous she thought of seeing him.

Levy sweat dropped. "Ever since Gray walked in the café, Juvia's been obsessing over him. They've never met each other but somehow he stole her heart already." She said.

Lucy awkwardly cleared her throat. "Oh, well I guess I don't mind letting Juvia have his Snapchat and Instagram."

Juvia's ears perked up from hearing Lucy, immediately grabbing out her phone. She smiled at the blonde, which she smiled back and typed the medias in Juvia's phone.

"I saw Natsu glancing at you a few times too." Levy giggled, nudging Lucy in the side.

The image of the pinkette male popped in her head, remembering the smile he'd given her before leaving. Her face grew hot, fading to a red tint as deep as an apple. "I'm sure you were just seeing things. Besides, whoever this Lisanna person must be close to him anyways."

"Oh, her? She's just his girlfriend," Levy blankly stated, her voice dripping with boredom at the mention of the unknown girl to Lucy. "She's a piece of work, I still don't understand why he's still with her."

"Why would she be like that?" Lucy curiously asked.

Levy sighed, flipping her short hair with her hand. "She never wants to hang out with us, Natsu literally has to _force_ her to hangout with his friends, aka us." She spat, clearly rolling her eyes at the thought of the girl.

"'O ia ka'ino, I'd like to meet her one day." Lucy replied with a smile on her face. She couldn't judge beforehand on who this girl was, so she only thought of the positive fact to meet someone new again.

"Your funeral." Levy joked back. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"'O ia ka'ino? Oh, mahalo!" Lucy waved her hands, but facepalmed as to remember she wasn't back home. "I meant to say that's too bad."

Levy shook her head. "I wish I could speak Hawaiian."

"Shit, shit, shit, I'm gonna be fuckin' late and the ol' farts' gonna kill me." Natsu heavily breathed as he grabbed his bag and slung it on his back, slamming the door behind him.

The boxer practically leapt onto his motorcycle, turning the vehicle on. It roared to life, quickly taking off when Natsu aggressively accelerated it.

The wind blew against his skin, whipping his pink locks violently in the air as he went faster down the road. The boxing arena was more towards the popular area of the town, but luckily the roads of his area were usually more clearer.

It was a trend to ride his motorcycle like a billet on the streets, so people from the sidewalks and their windows shouted good lucks to him like usual.

He slowed down to a short pause, holding out his hand to high-five the younger teenager again. It was their trend every time, a superstitious act.

"Go get him, Natsu! I'll be watching on tv!" The boy yelled, slapping his palm against Natsu's hand.

"I'm gonna knock him out in a few rounds, you'll just see, Romeo!" Natsu yelled over his shoulder, pressing down on the acceleration to take off.

As he swiftly rode, he smirked to approach a certain apartment building. He took a sharp turn, practically skidding the wheels against the concrete to create an ear-piercing screech.

The boxer picked up a small rock and threw it at a window on the third floor. "Yo gramps! I got another fight tonight, wish me luck!" Natsu called out, his voice echoing in the distance.

The glass window slammed open to see a short old man poke his head out. "You child! Don't get your brain knocked out of your skull!"

Natsu shook his head and chuckled, ruffling his hair. "Thanks for the blessing, Makarov!"

"That wasn't a blessing, it was a warning you dimwit!"

Natsu cracked up, waving up at the old man before turning around to head towards the arena, already knowing it'd be an easy fight to win.


	7. Chapter 6: The First Words

_"Please leave a message after the beep."_

"Hey Lisanna, I know we haven't said anything for over a day, you're probably pissed because I had a fight yesterday so maybe that's why you bailed again. Text or call me back. Yeah...love you."

Natsu mumbled the last two words with uncertainty, pressing the button to end his voicemail he left his girlfriend. He laid in his bed motionless, letting his arm fall onto the fluffy blankets on his mattress.

He sorely smiled, remembering every detail of last night's sweep. From all the extra hours he put into working out and studying his opponent, Natsu was already crowned the winner after a few easy rounds.

 _The brunette male sporadically stumbled on his feet after getting a blow right in his jawline._

 _Natsu smirked as he saw his opponent was off-balanced, having the upper hand. The brunette's hands were lazily protecting himself, clearly seeing a wide open gap to attack. He swiftly took the opportunity, perfect footwork smoothly flowing through with his uppercut, then another to the side of his ribs._

 _The young man stumbled back, tripping over his heels to fall onto the floor._

 _As the ten-seconds quickly passed by, the people all crammed in the small junk box arena started screaming more wildly than before._

 _The brunette tried to grasp the ride of the boxing post, but his body was too worn out. He slid back down, limply laying himself against it._

 _"-And the winner once again is no other than the Red Dragon, Natsu Dragneel~!" The announcer held his last name for a few long seconds, hearing the crowd burst with excitement and praise._

 _Natsu shook his hair from sticking to the front of his face and turned around to exit the boxing ring._

 _"You fucked that guy up! I'm proud of ya, boy," Gildarts shook his sweaty shoulder and handed him a towel. "You'll be ready for next week, no doubt."_

 _"Thanks old fart, I appreciate you coachin' me." Natsu slickly replied, grinning as he made his way to the locker room._

 _Many people reached out to graze their hands on him, which he mostly ignored. The smell of cigarettes and beer overwhelmed his nostrils, the air hot and thick to breathe in._

 _"Ladies, back off, he's taken 'aight." Gray said behind him, waving off the fangirls that desperately asked for signatures, photos, and hugs._

 _Natsu pushed open the musty door to the greasy locker room and sat on a bench. He bit his gloves and ripped them off, following with the tape security wrapped around his fists._

 _"You completely wrecked that guy, Natsu." Gray laughed._

 _"He should've been expecting it." Natsu smirked back, wiping his upper body with the towel to soak up some of the sweat dripping down._

 _"Yeah, he should have."_

Natsu grinned as he finally forced himself to get up to take a quick shower. The most nasty bruise was blatantly showing just on his right jawline, the purple-blue blending to make the gruesome color pop more.

He had a few scattered around his upper body, but it wasn't anything related to the serious wounds he'd left on his opponent. In fact, he more so pulverized the young man. It wouldn't be a surprise if that guy never matched up against him again.

Natsu hustled to finish his shower and gallop down the stairs. An unknown reason motivated him to be his lively self.

He wore navy jeans and a regular thin white v-neck shirt, taking the day off to mainly focus on flexibility later. He snatched his wallet and keys to stuff in his pockets along with his phone and exited his house.

Natsu paused for a second, realizing that he could've slept in for the whole day if he wanted to. Why was he even up at this hour?

After a quick moment to think, he knew where his destination was headed.

He was tempted to take a ride on his beautiful motorcycle again, but pushed the thought away to his distaste. The most important thing was his body, so taking a walk wouldn't do harm. It was more helpful for him to stretch out more than to cramp up on his bike.

The walk wasn't too bad, in fact it was better than normal. Lots of people said their congratulations to him for his easy sweep on the floor with his opponent.

Natsu arrived at the café for the second time, hoping to see the blonde maiden working a shift for an unknown reason. His gut clenched as he slid through the doors.

A smile made his way to see Lucy working at the barista area, clearly in head-charge of ordering and perfecting varieties of specialty drinks.

He'd never seen a café like this before. It was almost like a restaurant and Starbucks mashed into one. There was a choice of choosing to dine by approaching the main desk or grabbing something in a couple minutes by ordering at the barista counter. It was quite unique.

The barista area was off to the left with its own separate tables, divided away from the restaurant portion that was led towards the right.

Natsu turned on his heels to approach the small line at the barista cash register. As he patiently waited, he curiously inspected Lucy as she shifted between swiftly taking orders to perfecting a blissful morning drink to wake anyone up.

He was glad no one was behind him, letting him able to make an effort for a small conversation with the girl Gray luckily met.

"-Sorry about the wait, may I take your order-?" Lucy paused just before the end of her question to meet the same pair of eyes as yesterday.

Natsu smiled. "Yeah, I'll take a grande vanilla latte, just one pump of vanilla should be fine."

Lucy scribbled it down on the cup, her hand shaking nervously from his presence.

"It's Natsu, n-a-t-s-u. I didn't get to formally introduce myself yesterday to you." Natsu spoke up, subsiding the awkwardness of bringing up the usual question of "And your name?"

Lucy shyly smiled as she finished poking in the order on the computer screen. "Your total cost is three seventy-five."

Natsu handed her four one-dollar bills. He noticed she politely grasped them without letting her fingers touch his.

"Your change will be-"

"Keep it, I don't need it back." Natsu interrupted her, giving her a gentle smile. His palm leaned against the counter casually.

Lucy shook her head, continuing to pick out a quarter for change. "No-it's yours, we really couldn't accept it."

Natsu ran a hand through his hair, a soft feeling growing in his gut from her politeness. "Well, is it okay if I tip you instead?"

Lucy felt a heat flash rise to her face, feeling her knees weaken just by his gaze. "Um, I really couldn't, you're quite generous though." She quietly peeped. She slid the quarter across the counter with her finger to his side.

"I'd like to, I enjoyed the coffee you made yesterday and I think great talent should be praised more. So I want you to keep the quarter." Natsu pushed it back to her hand.

After hesitation, Lucy accepted his generosity for her. "Mahalo, it means a lot. I'll be right back with your drink." She softly smiled at the pinkette male, capturing his gaze for a second longer than she should've.

Natsu tapped his fingers against the counter as he watched the fluency of her movements. It seemed as if she'd been working here for ages to the common eye, already memorizing where everything was to perform her magic. The irritation of becoming impatient wasn't existent like how he felt in every other coffee shop, internally groaning to watch the workers hastily bump into each other in a chaotic manner. If anything, it was almost cringe-worthy to watch.

He couldn't comprehend why she performed it as graceful as a swan, it was more intriguing than annoying to watch. All the blonde was doing was making his requested caffeinated drink.

Lucy came back with his drink in hand holding it out for him. "Here you go."

Natsu grasped it and met her eyes again. "Thank you, have a nice day Lucy." He said, purposefully adding her name to grab her direct attention.

"No'u ka hau'oli, and you too." Lucy replied with a soft smile, her cheeks reddening.

"I'll see you later." Natsu added, pausing for a moment before turning around.

Lucy noticed a large dark spot just on the bottom of his face, her brows slightly furrowing in wonder. Not to be weird, but the mark wasn't there yesterday. The thought couldn't help but struck her mind as in how he managed to receive a bruise that gruesome.

As she wiped the counter, she clearly remembered the pinkette male sting something to Gajeel about working on his footwork.

The puzzle pieces instantly clicked in her brain. The person Gajeel called "Salamander" was _Natsu_.

She bit her bottom lip, not helping but to be curious in the other male, Gray's best friend. He'd texted her that late yesterday, letting her know he was watching a fight too.

A few more customers came in a couple minutes, distracting her thoughts for a moment. Afterwards, she sighed lightly and glanced around.

Her eyes laid on the only male with pink hair, sitting at a small table next to the window.

Natsu was solely focused on his phone in one hand, the other gently holding his coffee.

Lucy's fingers anxiously tapped on the counters surface, wondering if there was any point in starting conversation with him. It wouldn't hurt talking to Gray's friend, right? Most customers were going to the dining area anyways, and there was only one other person seated around the barista's tables.

"This is so boring...I still have a few hours until I get off my shift." Lucy mumbled, puckering out her lips. What the hell was she supposed to do when Levy and Juvia were on the other side working?

She didn't notice a pair of emerald-coal eyes glancing at her in interest.

Natsu took another sip at his coffee, the scrumptious flavor gliding on his tastebuds. It was no secret to him anymore that she perfected her work, only drawing him more curious. The heavenly aroma had already watered his mouth in anticipation when he received it.

He barely knew her; yet she lured him in like a spell. She hadn't tried to and he couldn't shake the fact that he wanted to _know_ her more.

He finally admitted to himself that Gray landed spot-on this time, and he was a little _envious_ of him. The soft smile fitted perfectly with her rosy cheeks, her voice was calm like gentle tides sweeping across silky sand.

He still couldn't get her flawless accent from his mind, it sounded so pure.

It wasn't anything like Lisanna.

Speaking of his girlfriend, Natsu ignored the sassy text she sent him only a few mere minutes ago.

 _-Natsu, what the heck?! It's your day off and you're not home?! I was expecting to see you today!_

Okay, she didn't let him know she was swinging by. The ways she aggravates him were unhuman in every possible way. It was the flip flop between overly-clingy to leaving him in the dust for a reason he didn't know of, and conclusions always led to being his fault.

Right now, his thumb lingered over a certain follow request button, glancing back and forth between his phone and Lucy.

Natsu let his thumb lightly touch his screen this time, a small jolt of wonder wavering within.

* * *

After work, Lucy planned to hang out with Levy afterwards. Currently, they were sitting in her family room on the couches like they've been for the past multiple hours.

"That's amazing that you and Gajeel have been dating for over two years! I'm envious you guys already live together." Lucy mentioned, lifting a grape to her mouth and chewed on it.

Levy smiled with a blush on her cheeks. "Aw Lu, that's so sweet of you!"

The tv was on some sports channel as background noise while they chatted and scrolled through their phones. Earlier, they were watching the Divergent movies together so they put aside their phones to charge.

"Omg Lu, you have to see Gajeel's post on Instagram from a few days ago. I'm not sure if you're following him or not." Levy said, getting up from her couch to sit next to Lucy.

Levy pulled up on her boyfriends' profile and clicked on the photo of her sitting on his shoulders. The picture was taken admit between her laughing while he glazed a smirk on his face.

"That's the cutest thing ever!" Lucy gushed. She pulled out her phone and clicked on the Instagram app, letting Levy maneuver to his profile on her account.

"I'll tell him to follow you back, don't worry. Hell already know because you're one of my friends." Levy said.

Lucy popped another grape in her mouth and pressed the follow button. She mindlessly scrolled through her feed, not noticing Levy eyeballing the notifications.

"You've got a shitload of notifications, Lu, probably because of that picture you uploaded last week before moving here," Levy pointed to the bottom of the tiny screen. "But I'm curious to know how your pictures have such high quality when you've only got an iPhone 4?"

Lucy smiled and let her thumb touch the notifications bar. "I use a camera I saved money for. Also, natural lighting. I upload the picture to my laptop and post it from there."

Levy nodded her head. "I love how you're so extra about it, it definitely pays off. Must be why you have so many followers."

The blonde shrugged her shoulders, biting her tongue to keep from saying anything too revealing about her past status. "Yeah, I guess so." She replied.

Levy watched her, picking up that she wasn't looking through all the follow requests sent to her. "I think some people wanna know you more, maybe cute guys!" She cooed, laughing as Lucy shook her head.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to look through them more often." Lucy sweat dropped, sheepishly smiling. The only exception was a few days ago when Gray and her exchanged Insta's to follow each other.

"Wel let's see what guys are interested in you!" Levy shouted, snagging her phone and clicking on the tab.

Lucy leaned her cheek on her hand, raising her brows curiously when Levy's mouth dropped wide open. "Um...'oe maika'i, Lev?" She chuckled.

"What does that mean?"

Lucy bit the inside of her cheek, mentally reminding her to try to not use Hawaiian language. "Sorry, I meant to ask if you were okay."

"I'm _fantastic_ and fucking _shook,_ " Levy stated, her mouth shaped in an _'o'_ form. "I can't believe he requested a follow, oh my god!"

"Who?" Lucy asked, watching the bluenette silently scream words.

"He usually doesn't follow anyone unless it's his friends or boxers, like it's rare," Levy gapped, the expression on her face completely shocked. "Lucy! I told you he was keepin' his eye on you!"

"Who?!" Lucy demanded, shaking her friends shoulders sporadically. The more seconds went by, the more curious she got by Levy's now loud-as-hell screaming.

"Look!" Levy shouted, showing the small phone in Lucy's face.

Lucy barely managed to grab her phone before it hit the ground. She rolled her eyes as Levy giddily peeked over her shoulder, bringing the screen up to look at.

She dryly swallowed and blinked a few times, making sure she read the name and the number of followers the person had correctly.

"Natsu...Dragneel?"

"Yes! He's Instagram famous, well surprisingly from living in this small town!" Levy squealed, pointing to the large number.

Her eyes widened in surprise. She thought she had a lot of followers, but this guy could almost leave her in the dust. "He has over ten _thousand_ followers? How?" Lucy sputtered. Next was the number of people he followed, and it was barely a sliver of the amount following him. Only just below thirty people? How was that even possible?

"He's had Instagram ever since it came out, and over the years his matches have become broadcasted on live tv, so he's a pretty famous boxer around here," Levy explained. "And I think you should totally accept his request, remember you told me he tipped _you_ instead of the restaurant after you declined the first time." She winked.

Lucy slumped in her seat and shook her head. "I don't know, I mean he has a girlfriend and I respect that, so I'll stick with Gray-"

"Oh _girl_ , you'll understand one day, and I'm pretty sure Juvia's crushing on Gray really hard." Levy said, shrugging her shoulders.

Lucy sighed, already aware of Juvia practically obsessed over him. She herself didn't have feelings for the dark-haired male, but she was waiting for their friendship to grow overtime. Nothing bugged her more than rushing into things.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? I don't want his girlfriend to get the wrong idea..." Lucy mumbled, staring at a random spot on the couch.

Levy nodded excitedly in response. "He doesn't just follow people he's met once or twice for nothing obviously. Maybe he wants to get to know you more because in the past, Gray's never been so successful with girls."

Lucy raised her phone up again to inspect his profile. He had lots of pictures posted overtime, and her eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the exposing pictures of his toned chest.

Okay, she admitted that he was _hot_. She assumed thousands of girls drooled over him. A golden tan glazed his toned body, following with firmly defined abs. Every muscle was clearly visible, making it harder to tear her eyes away.

Lucy remembered how generous he was to her, their very first real conversation to take place. It was short and sweet, and he didn't seem like an asshole compared to most other young men. She just wondered what he noticed that made him interested in her of all people.

"Okay, E Hana wau." Lucy looked to see a questionable look on Levy's face, which she replied to. "I'll do it."

"That's the spirit!" Levy cheered as Lucy pressed the accept button, gently smiling when she didn't hesitate to follow him back.

* * *

Natsu bitterly sat on his bed, crossing his arms. A pissed expression was written all over his tended up face.

"You know what, Natsu?! You're being ridiculous! You're the one wasting your time boxing!" His girlfriend sassed. She laid on the other side of his bed while she had her phone in her hand.

The pinkette boxer threw his hands up in the air. "How am I being ridiculous? You couldn't manage to respond to my text until after a day, and now you just show up when it's night?!"

"I was _busy_."

"What was so much more important than texting me back? It takes one second to let me know what you're doing!"

"It's none of your business."

Natsu gapped at Lisanna, absolutely enraged and stunned by her selfishness. He bitterly shook his head, his lips forming a thin line.

A long moment of heavy silence took over the room, neither person bothering to mutter an apology, even if only one of them was truly at fault.

"Babe, who is _this_?" Lisanna's voice hissed, a nasty snarl on her face as if she's seen something disgusting. She shoved her phone at his face as if she was making her point.

Natsu rubbed his eyes and blinked to see the profile, recognizing the private account. "Oh her? She's just the girl Gray met last week."

The whitenette rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Just some girl you don't know? Whatever, she's not even pretty."

"Lis, you can barely see her profile picture." Natsu stated. He wondered how Lisanna managed to find the girls' profile. It seemed sort of creepy to be honest.

Lisanna faced away from him and settled on the side of the bed, putting her phone on the charger to go to sleep.

Natsu sat there hotheaded, barely managing to hold back his tongue from spitting another string of words to then backfire on him. He snatched his phone and went on Instagram.

His breath hitched in his throat to see two specific notifications that made a small smile form on his face. Deciding to look later, he closed it out and set his alarm for tomorrow morning.

Natsu failed to notice the reason why he was smiling as he went to sleep, not because of seeing Lisanna, but the small ounce of excitement to see the blonde accepted his request.

Not to mention following him back.


	8. Chapter 7: New Starts

"C'mon, move those damn feet!" Gildarts yelled, watching his two boxers during their match.

"Shut up, ya ol' man, I got this." Gajeel hissed, spitting towards the side over his shoulder.

He swung a fist slightly downwards towards the swifter opponent, only managing to go all-air and not contact.

"C'mon, you gotta have more than that!" Natsu teased, lightly bouncing on the balls of his feet. He took a couple steps to the side, almost envisioning landing a few jabs to Gajeel's sides.

Gajeel grimaced, baring his teeth. "You're gon' wish you didn't say shit, Salamander." He took an aggressive step forward and swung his arm again.

Natsu jumped back to avoid his slow punch. He raised up his gloves to block another couple fierce shots, then quickly retaliated by slamming multiple punches at Gajeel's upper body. The finisher was swinging a fist to the left side of his head and an uppercut with his other hand to his jaw.

"Okay, that's enough for today." Gildarts said before Gajeel could regain his balance.

A slow clapping came from next to the boxing ring, obviously sarcastically. "That was just _great_."

Gajeel took a gurgle of water and spit it right at the male. "Fuck off, princess."

Gray stepped to the side, letting the spit water splash next to him.

Natsu cracked up. "You're just pissed you lost again."

Gajeel almost raised his hand to give him the birdie, realizing that was impossible to show with his boxing gloves on. "Piss off." He muttered under his breath.

"I'll fight this dumbass tomorrow for you." Gray snickered, throwing an already-used towel at Gajeel.

"You'll be the next person that I fucking kill," Gajeel lowly said back, stepping out of the boxing ring. "I'll hang you by your god damn towel!" He snapped the towel towards Gray like a whip.

"You guys, take it to the locker room, I got other boys to train." Gildarts said, swiping away the damp towel from Gajeel's hands. He didn't even react to how disgusting it smelt or felt, measly tossing it in one of the dirty towel baskets.

Natsu bit into one of his gloves and tore it off his sweaty hand covered in tape. "I could fight anyone anywhere and still beat their ass." He cockily pointed.

The three young men walked their way to the men's locker room, throwing verbal insults at each other.

Natsu spun his code into his lock and snapped it open, swinging the large locker door to let it smack against the locker next to his. He quickly de-odorized himself by cleaning every drop of sweat off with a two-minute shower at most. The shower stalls were cramped and tiny, the feeling of claustrophobic could creep up on anyone in there.

He threw on black Nike dri-fit sweats, following with the same thin material for his white long-sleeved Nike shirt.

After grabbing his workout backpack, Natsu stopped in front of a mirror and posed.

"Can you not pose like a hoe, thanks," Gajeel spat behind, rolling his eyes as the pinkette winked at himself. "It's already enough to see stripper walking around in his underwear carelessly."

Natsu shook his damp hair around, letting water drops fly in every direction. "Nah bro, I'm not sorry for being attractive."

His emerald eyes glistened at the sight of Gray's bag with clothes, hearing his shower finally turn off. Natsu snickered as he stripped the bag and walked out of the locker room, keeping his laughs to himself.

Natsu walked to the front door of the boxing gym, passing by many neighborhood boxers just like himself. Over the years, they've come to realize that this was _his house_ , having the status of a king.

After a couple minutes, a couple masculine voices raised in the locker room.

"Where the hell is my bag? I swear I left it by my locker." Gray came out in only navy blue boxers, looking around the area he was mostly at. Nobody batted an eye at him, they were used to his trend of wearing barely anything, sometimes nothing at all. Only newcomers flipped their shit and were left flabbergasted to see nobody giving one shit.

Natsu swung the door open, stepping outside while waving Gray's backpack in the air. "Gotta come out and get it!" He laughed, stepping on the sidewalk. Gajeel snickered behind Gray.

Gray shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "Okay then." He stepped outside and held out his hand.

"Maybe I'll just take your bag with me so you'll have to go home that way!" Natsu laughed, clapping his hands as his best friend stood there like a statue.

"I don't care," Gray said. He walked past Natsu, leaving the two other boxers completely silent.

"That guy's really not gonna go home like that, is he?" Gajeel spat, questioning about their dark-haired friend.

Natsu and Gajeel blankly stared until Gray immediately stopped to turn back around. "I actually need my clothes."

"Wait, did I just hear that right? You _need_ your clothes? Is the apocalypse coming?" Natsu waved the bag and chuckled it at Gray's chest, snickering. He couldn't remember any time when Gray announced he needed to wear something.

Gajeel stepped aside to let Gray walk back in the gym. "Why do you need clothes?" He asked, admittedly feeling as curious as Natsu.

"I'm meeting up with Lucy in about forty minutes at the café, and I'm actually trying not to scare her off." Gray replied over his shoulder, walking back to the locker room to change.

Gajeel clicked his tongue, muttering something as he followed Gray back to the locker room, leaving Natsu by himself.

A ting of envy wavered over Natsu. In the past few seconds Gray had said two things that were unlike his character.

Meeting up with a girl and needing clothes.

Natsu furrowed his brows as he started walking. Gray wasn't the type to be up on his game with meeting girls at public places, he was always losing track of time.

This girl Lucy definitely had more than just a meet and greet influence.

Natsu didn't even realize that during the whole while if spacing out and thinking, his footsteps had led him back to the café he'd visited only a mere couple times.

Without having a second thought, he walked in and stood to glance in both directions. To the restaurant side, Levy was coming back to where Juvia was at the front counter.

"Hey Natsu, didn't expect to see your ass here again." Levy said, carrying a large tray of multiple empty glasses on top. The shift she was working was obviously as a waitress.

Natsu playfully rolled his eyes at his friends' girlfriend. "I know, you just want me to sign your shirt because I'm the best boxer here."

Levy heavily breathed. "You wish. But why're you here again?"

"Anything wrong with dropping by to get a coffee?" Natsu questioned back, crossing his arms and smirked.

"Well I'll be happy to let you know _Lucy's_ doing her shift at the barista again." Levy giggled and winked, flipping her short hair away from her face.

Natsu's eyes widened ever so slightly, his fingers tapping against his body. The way Levy told him was obvious signs of her knowing about his genuine interest about the blonde, and there wasn't any way to pinpoint that small ounce of information in that moment.

Natsu casually shrugged his shoulders, pretending he didn't care. "So? All I came for was a drink before going home, I'm whipped after my practice." He distastefully stated.

Both Juvia and Levy purses their lips out and falsely nodded their heads. "M-hm, _sure_ , just go to the left." Levy sarcastically said, waving him off before continuing her shift.

Natsu squinted eyes at her back from picking up on her sarcastic tone.

"Don't glare at her like that! Juvia doesn't approve!" Juvia shouted, chucking a pen at Natsu's face.

A force of habit kicked in as he dodged the flying pen and caught it between his fist. He twisted it between his fingers before tossing it back onto the table and turned on his heels.

 _'Why does she talk like that? It's kind of weird...'_ Natsu thought as he walked to the coffee shop side.

He paused to look at Lucy working again, his smile curving at the corners of his lips for a fraction of a second before his ears picked up on the conversation.

"Aww, c'mon girl, you could leave today with me instead of working here."

His smile flatted into a thin line, narrowing his emerald eyes.

"You know, I think I'm fine, how about-"

"So you're a shy one, the shy ones are always the most interesting."

Natsu picked up on her awkward state, seeing her face expression twisted and conflicted.

"I'd just like your name so I can make your drink-"

"My name's Derek, sweetie-"

"How about you shove it up your ass because she's clearly not interested, dumb ass," Natsu interrupted, grabbing the guys' shoulder to face him. A smirk grew on the boxers face from Derek's shocked face. "Didn't I knock you out two weeks ago in a fight that lasted two rounds? That's funny."

"Y-You?! You're Natsu-hey man, I'll just get my drink and go, 'aight?" Derek said, his voice with a tone of nervousness, unlike the cockiness a few seconds ago.

Right on que, Lucy slid the drink towards the guy, not bothering to exchange any further words. Derek hastily walked away, completely embarrassed by being caught flirting until the boxer he got wrecked by stopped him.

"Mahalo, he was starting to creep me out." Lucy started, capturing the pinkette's attention. There was a different vibe when their eyes met from last time, especially after the nonverbal Instagram contact.

Natsu grinned back, leaning one hand on the counter and shoving the other in his pant pocket. "No problem; that guy barely managed to put up a fight against me."

He blinked, noticing she's said 'mahalo' instead, but didn't question it.

She grabbed a grande sized cup unconsciously knowing. "I'm guessing it's boxing, right?"

Natsu blinked for a second, feeling his pride have a boost. "Yeah, how's you guess?" He eagerly questioned back, already knowing half of the answer. The only way for her to know was looking at his _Instagram_. Which reminds him, he still didn't hasn't looked at hers.

"Gray mentioned you a few times to me that you're his best friend," Lucy replied, a light blush showing on her embarrassed face. "And your Insta."

"Oh, that's nice," Natsu said, side-grinning and tapped his fingers. "And I'd like a grande vanilla latte, one pump please."

Lucy scribbled the same order on the coffee cup with a black sharpie, feeling his gaze focused on her. "Your total's three seventy-"

"Four," Natsu interjected and slid another four one dollar bills to her. "And keep the change."

"Stop, you can't be serious." Lucy said as she clicked on the cash register, shaking her head in determination to give him back his quarter this time.

The quarter sat on the counter now untouched, neither one grabbing it for their own. Lucy spun around, feeling her messy hair jumbled in her bun bounce with her movements.

As she swiftly mixed the ingredients to blend, she sneaked a peek to see him not hiding the fact he was watching her; his toned chest she could easily see through his thin-tight workout shirt facing her and leaning his weight on the counter against his palm.

She adverted her eyes back, still wondering why he'd taken such an interest in her. They barely knew each other, and somehow his smile was already intoxicating to look at.

To be honest, she didn't know if they were still strangers.

"How'd you meet Gray?" His voice perked, willingly to start another conversation.

Lucy snapped the lid over the coffee cup. "I was actually walking around to find a job and he started talking to me. He said he didn't recognize me, but he wanted to get to know me more," She said, sliding his drink towards him. "Therefore, we exchanged numbers and social medias over the week."

Natsu picked up on her hint of _social medias_ clearly. "I guess getting to know more than one person wouldn't hurt." He said, his eyes meeting hers. Without looking down, he flicked the quarter with his fingers to her side.

Lucy noted the advancing but humble glint in his eyes, smiling at his risky move. She hesitantly picked up the quarter with her fingers.

"Who knows." She playfully said, shrugging her shoulders.

A goofy grin spread on his lips, quite enjoying the time talking with the new girl. "I'll see you tomorrow." He said, taking one last moment to capture her gaze within his before turning around.

As Natsu walked out, her brown eyes studied his tall stature and back. He was more than just in shape, it was almost god-like how ripped he was.

A soft smile grazed her lips, hoping that whatever this was, it would continue to happen.

* * *

After her shift, she already prepared a booth next to a window in advance for them so they didn't have to wait.

Currently, she was enjoying her time in a conversation with the dark-haired male sitting across from her.

"So you like dancing? I guess we have a lot in common." Gray said before taking a bite of his omelette.

Lucy hinted a curious smile. "Well, depends on which kind." She took a sip of her iced water and met his eyes, seeing an interested and intrigued look from him.

"Hmm, you look too innocent to know what dancin' I like." Gray chuckled, taking an awfully dangerous risk on his part.

To his own surprise, he saw her cast him a secretive smile, pretending to shrug her shoulders in agreement. "And I thought we weren't judging by looks? Maybe you'll have to find out." Lucy winked, then laughing lightly as his eyebrows shot upwards.

"I shouldn't have judged, that's my bad." Gray laughed.

"Maybe I'll have to find out about you, you know the wii game _Just Dance_?" Lucy questioned, her pink lips smiling sneakily.

"That's one of my favorite wii games! We could definitely hang at my place because I've got plenty of space to break out some moves." Gray shimmied his shoulders in his seat, making both of them crack up.

They both delightfully enjoyed the time together, hoping to expand their friendship closer.

Lucy exchanged between words, getting to know Gray Fullbuster a little more once again. A curious aspect to him was finding out about dancing, and he hinted that it wasn't the innocent kind. He was secretive in ways behind his words, but taking a jab every now and then to test her.

It was different than Natsu; the pinkette's tone was more gentle but his words made his point clear. Gray was more sly, hinting behind his answers for her to ask if she was truly wondering about him.

But it left her curious to know about their friendship together, the two young men complete polar opposites. It was like fire and ice; Gray was more cool-toned and secretive that sent shivers up her spine while Natsu on the other hand, somehow made her cheeks flare up from his generosity for tipping.

* * *

After Natsu got home, he went through the same trend again.

Argue with Lisanna about complete nonsense, always the one having to apologize in the end, a meaningless makeout session, leaving him look dumber than before.

Lisanna currently went up to take a shower, letting him finally have some self-time to relax his tired body.

He decided to watch film of his next opponent that wanted to challenge him, so he propped up his laptop on his thighs, letting his feet rest against the top of the table in front.

After some time of spending time deciphering the guys' footwork, direction of swings, memorizing his combos, he decided to check his phone. His opponent tended to take a quick step in advance and jab with his further hand while the other glove protected his closer side.

That makes it a lot easier for Natsu to close the gap and land a few punches to knock him on his ass.

He rolled his eyes at a comment Gray left under his recent picture, sending a snarky reply back.

Natsu boringly clicked on his girlfriends' recent upload from yesterday, which was a regular selfie that seemed too try-worthy. He wondered why she caked on makeup for the picture, noticing her shirt was intentionally lower than what it should look like.

He still didn't know the reason of her absence the other day, and it irritated him.

For once, he only double-tapped the picture and didn't leave a comment. Nothing like he would normally do, the _'wow ILY', 'damn', 'beautiful,'_ and other comments that was just the same as a crapload of other guys would say.

His curiosity rose again as he went through his feed.

 _-Gray_Fullbuster liked Lucy_Heartfilia's photo._

 _-Gray_Fullbuster commented on Lucy_Heartfilia's photo._

Natsu didn't take another second to wait, clicking on the notification and took a sip of his Gatorade.

His emerald eyes rolled at Gray's comment, scrolling up through the other comments to see the picture.

It wasn't the smartest decision to be drinking at that moment because it ended up him coughing hazardously and spitting out the drink, getting Gatorade all over his laptop.

Natsu couldn't care less where his drink ended up around him, he was shook more than the strongest earthquake that's ever occurred.

Holy shit was a definite understatement, but those were the only two words replicating in his brain.

The picture showed to her mid-thigh, and he was beyond comprehending all the most praising words to jumble into one single sentence. It was high-resolution, so each detail was clear-crystal to see.

Her hair was up in her normal high messy bun, but still somehow looked _hot._ Her body leaned against a wooden railing, supposedly on a deck of some sort. An oversized thin white sweatshirt hung on her body down to the very top of her legs, one brought slightly forward from her weight shifting on one side. The clothing hid away how curvaceous she was underneath. One hand gracefully rested next to her with the other close to her chest, touching a long necklace with fancy charms bundled together.

Her beautiful face veered slightly to the left, loose baby hairs and bangs framing it. Her saccharine pink lips formed a delicate soft smile. She adorned natural but sun-kissed makeup, her closed eyes sparkling from a golden eyeshadow. Long, black natural lashes barely touched her rosy highlighted cheeks, blending in with her summer glow.

"Holy _shit_."

How could someone look so innocent and unique, adoring a beautiful and yet deviously hot appearance. She didn't enhance anything, in fact it was more subtle and secretive to the keen eye, leaving thousands curious to see more. She didn't need anything extra to leave a man breathless.

It wasn't the usual 'let's cake on as much makeup as possible to look sexy, wear flashing shirts, purse out large injected lips with a dark lipstick and want as many guys as possible to want me' look like nowadays, the trend Lisanna fell under. He couldn't stand it.

She was her own style of art, a diamond in the rough that was breaking through the outer shell to let others see the antique beauty underneath.

Natsu didn't have a hesitation to double tap on the photo after staring at it for a long unknown period of time.

He ignored the karma of Lisanna screaming at him for liking her picture, Gray finding that she'd accepted his request and followed him back, or whatever Levy would say to him.

That wasn't stopping him from deciding to check a few other photos she posted. He didn't have a thought of denying that she was beyond gorgeous.

Natsu wished Lisanna hadn't changed from the way she used to be because that's what he loved about her, and everything he fell for was nonexistent. Yes, people change overtime but the feelings for her were more questionable than permanent, and it only made him confused. He never took a chance of looking on another girls' Instagram until now.

The last thought that lingered in Natsu's mind was if she was doing the same thing behind his back.

* * *

Hey! Just wanted to say thank you all who're reading this, it means a lot to me!

I just wanted to address that I first published this story last year, I think June or July 2017? I only published it on my Wattpad account, which is queen_random1. I decided to also start posting my work here on fanfiction, but if you're interested, I have tons of other in-progress works on Wattpad. Hopefully I can get all the chapters I have so far posted here soon.

 _Mahalo!_


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